News

Rockford, Ill.- The home portion of Rockford IceHogs preseason schedule came to an end on Friday night and the American Hockey League club fell 3-2 in a shootout against the Milwaukee Admirals at the Rockford MetroCentre.

All four goals were scored in the second period, with Milwaukee bookending the scoring.

Early in the second period Milwaukee converted on the power play. IceHogs goaltender Alec Richards fended off a Chris Mueller blast but Wes Cunningham fired the rebound to the back of the net to put Milwaukee up 1-0. Michael Bartlett also factored in on the play at 1:56.

The IceHogs responded with a power-play goal of their own to tie it up at 1-1. Ben Smith pounded home a Ryan Stanton blast from the point at 9:44 in the second period. Chris DiDomenico was also credited with a helper.

Peter Leblanc gave the IceHogs a brief lead at the 13:09 mark when he drove to the net and chipped in his own rebound past Jeremy Smith. Brian Connelly and Ivan Vishnevskiy had the assists.

Milwaukee came back 29 seconds later and tied it up at 2-2. Richards couldn't cover a loose puck in the IceHogs zone and Conner Shields slapped it to the back of the net.

Rockford outshot the Admirals 12-7 in the third period, but couldn’t find the back of the net and for the second-straight home preseason game the contest went to overtime and eventually to the shootout.

After Jeff Taffe tallied for Rockford in round one, Smith held Rockford off the board the rest of the way. Chris Mueller (round two) and Mark Van Guilder (round four) beat Richards as the Admirals out did Rockford 2-1 in the shootout.

The IceHogs outshot the Admirals 35-22 in the contest and both teams finished 1-6 on the power play.

Next Home Game: Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010 vs. Manitoba Moose. The puck is set to drop at 4:35 p.m. The IceHogs begin the 2010-11 season against the Manitoba Moose and the first 5,000 fans will receive a 2010-11 IceHogs Magnet Schedule courtesy of U.S. Cellular, Dental Dimensions, Guerilla Graffix and the Illinois Pork Producers. Before the game on Saturday there is a fan festival from 1-4 p.m. where fans can enjoy music, food and entertainment.